gregladen | August 29, 2008.... Or so goes the last sentence in the current National Hurricane Center forecast discussion.
This is Gusav. Even though it is only a strong tropical storm, it looks a lot like a hurricane already. This could be a Category IV hurricane in two or three days (Gustav, Atlantic Floater 1 Visible, Friday AM).
Right now, the level of complexity of Gustav's immediate future is higher than average for a hurricane. This is mainly because the two or three major atmospheric features that will determine Gustav's direction and rate of movement over then ext two days are themselves less predictable…
gregladen | August 29, 2008Webster Cook, the Florida student who was physically and politically attacked by forces directly and indirectly allied with the Catholic Church, was impeached and found guilty by the school government of his college. This is according to a source close to Webster, his friend, Benjamin Collard.
For more information on events leading up to this, see this guest blog by Benjamin of August 17th.
gregladen | August 28, 2008Extraordinary speech, Barack.
But as Julia said at the end ... "OK, guys, now step slowly away from the stage before it gets cheesy .... oops, too late..."
I have the following thoughts. Remember the Friend of Bill hats? Hey, we can re-use them as Friend of Barack hats. The money saved can be used to buy better armor for our troops in foreign lands. It occurs to me that Jackie Kennedy was a first draft for Michelle Obama.
And now, get to work, fellow Democrats. Slap on the bumper stickers, send money, get the word out, and if someone calls you and asks who you are going to vote for…
gregladen | August 27, 2008The current track places the storm dead on New Orleans. But this is many, many days in advance so you can't expect this to be accurate. But, this is worth keeping an eye on.
Speculation: RNC opens on September 1st. Gustav hits the Gulf Coast September 1st. RNC second and third day play out with the Republicans following tradition, which involves making stark and insensitive statements about people in need, landing bloody punches, or at least trying to, on their competition. As typically happens, the Republicans are seen as insensitive. This insensitivity is underscored by the choice of…
gregladen | August 27, 2008Minnesota Governor Tim "Falling Bridges" Pawlenty is going to be asked to join the John "The Creep" McCain as his Vice Presidential Running Mate. Mark my words.
This is going to happen during the present calendar week, most likely on McCain's birthday, which is Friday. (He'll be 72.)
gregladen | August 27, 2008I have not been able to find a news reference on line for this yet, not even AP seems to have it, but I can tell you what I heard on the car radio moments ago. A group of documentary film makers who have previously documented police abuse of demonstrators in other cities has just arrived in Saint Paul. The Saint Paul Police found them, harassed them, and took away their cameras and other equipment.
The only thing we know so far is what the film makers are claiming. The police agree that something happened but say that their version is different. I believe the police are also saying that…
gregladen | August 27, 2008Is it true that everyone in the US knows about this talking fish thing? Billy Bass, or maybe Wally the Walleye? Almost everyone in Minnesota no only knows about this, but owns or at one time owned a billy bass or a wally the Wally. Not me, but everyone else, almost.
Anyway, here's the new ad:
gregladen | August 27, 2008Ashwin Madia is running for congress in my district. As a Democrat, he'll replace (if elected) a long term Republican who is retiring. I was a delegate for Madia at the local level.
I live in one of those gerrymandered districts. It looks like a giant amoeba attempting to engulf the Twin Cities (the Minneapolis half), and is designed to include both white trashy working class and upper class mini-van suburbs, trending republicans.
The reason for this is that the congressional districts that overlap with the Metropolitan Council area of control get represented on that council. By having…
gregladen | August 26, 2008With Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama, and a zillion other people looking on, Hillary Clinton made clear her support of Obama, re-articulated key Democratic values (especially focusing on health care, education, human rights, workers rights, and the environment), Eulogized the recently dead, and kicked the ass of John the Joker McCain.
(Note: I do resent and do not support the concept of "god given potential" which was referred to a number of times this evening.)
Clinton explicitly stated support for Obama 11 times, Michelle 2 times, Biden 3 times, and she explicitly kicked McCain in the nuts…
gregladen | August 26, 2008I know women that are older than suffrage. Mind boggling.
Today, Aug. 26, marks the 88th anniversary of the day that the U.S. Constitution was amended to grant women the right to vote. The nonpartisan League of Women Voters, formed when women were first granted the right to vote, will mark this occasion with reflections on how far we have come as well as optimism that this year will bring even more Americans into the democratic process.
"What better day than the anniversary of the 19th amendment, Women's Equality Day, to recognize the progress we have made on voting rights in the past 88…
gregladen | August 26, 2008But please, avoid Minneapolis, OK?
With the Democratic National Convention going on in Denver, and the Republican Convention about to start in Saint Paul, I thought I'd pass on some helpful advice for Republican delegates and others who may be coming to town.
This is for your own good. Pay attention.
People always hear that "Minneapolis and St. Paul" are "different cities" and you'all know we don't like people to conflate the two. But I do believe that most people assume that this is the result of local pride, a kind of cultural quirk we Twin Citeans have. How quaint.
But I'm here to…
gregladen | August 26, 2008Hillary speaks tonight. The word on the street is that the Obama people have not seen, and will not seen, this speech. That is actually highly unusual for a convention speech.
Maybe she's going to make one last appeal......
gregladen | August 25, 2008They say Lake Itasca is the source of the Mississippi. This is why there is a big state park surrounding the lake, a park that preserves some beautiful old forest despite the best efforts of 19th century lumberjacks to cut it down.
Amanda next to the tallest white pine tree in Minnesota I've been to Itasca a number of times, and I've even done archaeological research there (which didn't turn out to be very interesting). But when I went to Itasca last week, it was my first visit with no work agenda, and I got to spend more time poking around and seeing the sights. I was visiting because…
gregladen | August 25, 2008
FOX is not a news network. Here, they are being shown the door. These protesters are mostly fairly silly, but here I applaud them.
gregladen | August 25, 2008David Campbell is a life science teacher in Florida who was recently profiled in the New York Times because of his involvement in the debate between Creationism and Evolution. This discussion is being picked up in the Blogosphere, and this is very timely, as this is the time when teachers in most US school districts are just heading back to class.
My "back to school" contribution is a repost of one of my more popular bits on the problem of the bible thumping student. This is revised and reposted from my old site. Enjoy:
.... Have you ever had this happen: You are minding your own…
gregladen | August 25, 2008I am currently reading Charles Darwin (Blackwell Great Minds), and so far I mainly like it.
Ruse, as you may know, is a philosopher, something of a science historian, and a science writer who has criticized what he calls "strident" atheism for being too fundamentalist. So that is as annoying as hell. The volume at hand has a large chapter on this issue, and if you read it not knowing about this earlier debate, I think you would come away not being too annoyed, and might even enjoy it, if you consider yourself a .. ahem ... 'strident' atheist. It is annoying, however, that Ruse places "…